ROME -- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Wednesday defended the "criteria of transparency and legality" that the UN agency claims led to the appointment of former first lady Nadine Heredia as director of its Liaison Office in Geneva, despite her being investigated in Peru for corruption and money laundering.

 In a statement, the FAO claimed "that the appointment of Heredia was transparent and subject to the normal procedures based on a rigorous selection process that included a review by a committee, which assessed their professional skills."

 With regard to the investigation into Heredia’s dubious tax activities, the UN agency claimed that it "understands that the restrictions ordered by the court for permission to leave Peru timed out in October and have not been extended."

 Also, "according to the information available to the FAO, the case opened in Peru poses no impediment to the development of duties with the Organization."

 The FAO recalled that Heredia Alarcon was a Special Ambassador of the organization in the International Year of Quinoa 2013 and that "during this period gave various speeches and worked to promote and defend this food worldwide, in addition to economic progress and resilience of the indigenous communities of the Andes that cultivate it."

 Also in 2012, "the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon acknowledged her experience and ability to compromise, and invited her to participate as an active member of the movement committed to ending malnutrition: Scaling-Up Nutrition, who’s headquarters are in Geneva, along with other international organizations with which the FAO works consistently like ILO and WHO."

 The Peruvian government, however, said that this appointment "does not respond to any government management" and regretted that it had not been "subject to prior consultation or coordination with the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

 nkd